Originally Posted by
vagabond
I'm following the news about Libya and read in several places that coalition forces "flew 70 to 80 sorties on Monday, up from 60 on Sunday."
What is a sortie?
Is it the number of aircraft flown? SOMEWHAT--# OF A/C & # OF TIMES IT/THEY ARE FLOWN
Number of bombs dropped from each aircraft? NO
What if it was a miss? N/A
Count the Tomahawks, which I understand is launched from ships? NO
What if an aircraft encounters the enemy and has to engage? NO
Do the pilots keep track of his/her own sorties? SOME DO, BUT THE ORGANIZATION IS SUPPOSED TO.
70 to 80 sorties implies that command doesn't know exactly how many?
According to the OPNAVINST 3710.7U (the rules Naval Aviators follow) a sortie is one flight. A flight is defined as:
For FW and TR aircraft-
When an "aircraft first moves forward on its takeoff run or takes off vertically from rest at any point of support and ends after airborne flight when the aircraft is on the surface for five minutes."
It becomes semi-vague for rotary wing assets-
"For helicopters, a flight begins when the aircraft lifts from a rest point or commences ground taxi and ends after airborne flight when the rotors are disengaged or the aircraft has been stationary for 5 minutes with rotors engaged."
As a result, many RW pilots log from rotors engaged to engine shutdown.
RB